


Missing the Forest

by embroideredbee



Category: Baby-Sitters Club - Ann M. Martin
Genre: F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, High School
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-21
Updated: 2019-11-21
Packaged: 2021-02-25 20:28:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21511519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/embroideredbee/pseuds/embroideredbee
Summary: Actually, it wasn’t as bad as it sounded, pretending to be Cary Retlin’s date for the sole purpose of burglarising someone’s bedroom.
Relationships: Cary Retlin/Kristy Thomas
Comments: 13
Kudos: 19





	Missing the Forest

Kristy was listening to Abby and Stacey’s spirited debate about the school club fundraising system when someone slid into the empty seat beside her. Stacey broke off mid-sentence. Claudia’s attention turned away from the cafeteria windows, where rain had been dripping in steady trails for most of the afternoon, and Mary Anne’s pen paused over a page of her planner.

Kristy risked a glance to the side and made a valiant effort not to groan aloud when she saw Cary Retlin, comfortably settled like it was perfectly normal for him to join them for lunch, which it was _not_. His social circle at Stoneybrook High might have overlapped to some degree with part of Stacey’s, but the last time Kristy had spoken to him was two months ago, when she’d passed him in the library and the top book on her stack had slipped off. He had picked it up for her and carefully returned it to the stack, open and propped up like the roof of a house.

‘What’s up, Retlin?’ Abby greeted him when no one else said anything.

‘Too many things to count, Abby,’ Cary said, peeling back the paper wrapping on his sandwich. ‘Did I interrupt something? You’re all so quiet, and I know there’s at least one person here who’s never quiet.’

Kristy shovelled a forkful of chicken salad into her mouth and didn’t rise to the bait. She could almost hear his smirk.

‘I think we’re just kind of surprised,’ Stacey said, which was a much more diplomatic answer than Kristy would have ever given, ‘since you seem to have a regular spot with your, um, fairly exclusive group.’

‘Yeah, since you stopped being a basement-dweller, you’ve gotten pretty predictable,’ Kristy couldn’t help adding.

‘Have I?’ Cary asked, sounding amused. ‘Well, how’s this for predictable? I’m here because I need a date with one of you.’

He didn’t seem the slightest bit fazed that the entire table— including Stacey, who liked to give off the impression that she was completely unflappable— was gaping at him. Kristy recovered first, mostly because she wanted to get her say in before cooler heads prevailed.

‘I don’t know who you’ve been talking to,’ she said coldly, ‘but no one here is running an escort service.’

Abby snickered. ‘But if you’re interested, Kristy looks like she’d be happy to escort you off the planet.’

‘Let’s listen to Cary explain before we get mad,’ Mary Anne said, calmly setting her pen down and using it to bookmark her page.

‘Why can’t I be mad now? In fact, why shouldn’t I be mad when someone just waltzes over here and acts like— like some power-tripping emperor with his harem!’

Stacey, Claudia and Abby burst into laughter. Mary Anne only shook her head, although Kristy could tell she was drawing on every ounce of self-control she had to keep her face from so much as twitching.

Cary, on the other hand, was smiling widely. ‘Escorts and harems? I didn’t know you had such a salacious mind, Kristy.’

‘Quit trying to provoke her and get on with it, Cary,’ Claudia said, cutting in as Kristy opened her mouth. ‘Since when did you have any trouble getting a date?’

Left with no outlet for her annoyance, Kristy went back to her lunch, jabbing her fork so hard into a slice of tomato that she nearly overturned her salad container. Her friends were all giving Cary their full attention and as much as she hated to admit it, she was curious as well, especially when Cary lowered his voice until it was barely audible above the usual cafeteria noise.

‘Well, being my date is really just a cover,’ he said. ‘I need someone to go to a party with me on Friday and help me... let’s say, retrieve something from the hostess’ bedroom.’

He glanced at Kristy as if expecting her to comment, but Abby beat her to it.

‘Uh, you mean you want one of us to help you steal something?’ she asked.

‘Is it stealing if it’s something that doesn’t belong to her?’

Claudia looked doubtful. ‘What did she take? I mean, I don’t know the exact legal situation, but I’m not going to risk getting caught going through someone’s room for an old shoe or something.’

‘It’s a private journal that’s being used to humiliate its owner,’ Cary replied.

His tone was even, but Kristy got the sense he was angrier than he let on. She met Mary Anne’s gaze, who lifted her eyebrows very slightly.

‘That’s terrible,’ Mary Anne said softly. ‘Are they okay?’

‘Is that person you?’ Kristy asked.

‘They’re upset, but fine,’ Cary said with a quick smile at Mary Anne. Then he turned to Kristy. ‘And no, it’s not me. You’ve read one of my journals; you know that with the way I mix fact and fiction, it’d be hard to blackmail me with one of them.’

Kristy shifted in her seat as four pairs of surprised eyes turned in her direction.

‘Oh,’ Cary said in delight. ‘Did Kristy never tell any of you about the time in eighth grade when she snooped through my room and read my journal?’

Kristy bristled at his choice of words, but what could she say? She _had_ been snooping. Given half the chance, she would have read the entire notebook.

‘Hey, if Kristy already has criminal experience, I vote she helps Cary out,’ Abby said with a grin.

‘Criminal experience— I didn’t smash his windows open to get in! I was an invited guest!’

‘An invited guest who betrayed her host’s trust,’ Cary murmured, shaking his head sadly.

Kristy treated him to a sharp elbow in the side for that, which only startled a laugh out of him.

‘Is the party you’re talking about Sophie Palmer’s?’ Stacey asked.

‘Who’s Sophie Palmer?’ Abby wondered. ‘The name sounds familiar.’

Claudia poked unenthusiastically at the remaining bites of her lasagne. ‘You know, the girl who got her parents to make a big fuss about gym class during freshman year. She’s the one who said she shouldn’t have to participate in any outdoor sessions because—’

‘— she’s a redhead and redheads have a higher chance of developing skin cancer!’ Abby finished. ‘I remember now. She does seem like the kind of jerk to steal someone’s journal and use it against them.’

‘Yes, that’s her,’ Cary said. ‘Her parents are out of town for the weekend and letting her stay home with her older sister. Sophie’s throwing a party on Friday and her sister has one planned for the next night.’

‘Two parties in one weekend? I want to see what the house looks like on Sunday,’ Abby said.

‘I’m going to guess they don’t have any relatives who might drop by unexpectedly,’ Claudia added. She finally pushed the rest of her lasagne away and started on a Mars Bar.

‘Never mind all that,’ Stacey said, a little impatiently. ‘Cary, why come to us with this? You have plenty of friends who are girls and it’d be a whole lot more believable for you to be going with one of them.’

It was a good question. Kristy watched Cary’s usual implacable confidence slip a little, giving his expression an unguarded uncertainty that, strange as it sounded, made him seem more real to her. It had been a long time since she’d thought of him simply as a mysterious figure with a set of extremely suspect skills and hobbies, but it was still rare to see Cary in any way other than what he intended to show.

Cary shrugged. ‘I’m probably being unfair, but I don’t think any of them are as trustworthy as all of you. And with all your... investigative experience, I figure you’d also be good at getting out of tricky situations, which might come in handy on Friday. If any of you are up for it, of course.’

‘I vote Kristy,’ Abby repeated immediately.

‘Me, too,’ Claudia said. ‘Kristy has nerves of steel, so she’s definitely the best person for secretly sneaking around someone’s house.’

‘Yup.’ Abby’s grin took on a mischievous edge. ‘Plus, it’s not a huge stretch to believe Kristy and Cary might go to the party together. All that history, all that tension...’

‘Yes, the tension of who’ll drive who insane first,’ Kristy said flatly, hoping no one would notice she was blushing.

‘I can see it,’ Stacey said. She narrowed her eyes thoughtfully. ‘I think you two would look cute together.’

Kristy turned to Cary in exasperation, but even though his cheeks were a little pink, he mostly just seemed entertained. It was Mary Anne, who definitely deserved some kind of recognition as the best best friend in the world, who came to Kristy’s rescue.

‘I think Kristy would do a great job, but it should be her decision,’ she reminded everyone.

Everyone looked expectantly at her. Cary raised an eyebrow in challenge.

What could she do? The thought of pretending to be Cary Retlin’s date was kind of terrifying, but she couldn’t chicken out in front of Cary and her friends. Anyway, how could she refuse to help when someone’s private thoughts had been stolen and were being used to hurt them? It was a matter of justice and human decency and maybe moral obligation.

‘Fine, I’ll do it,’ she said, trying not to sound as reluctant as she felt.

‘Excellent!’ Claudia said. She sat up straighter and actually bounced happily in her seat. ‘We’ll get Kristy all jazzed up for you, Cary.’

‘Oh... Thanks, Claudia.’ Cary tidied his lunch tray and stood up. He was smiling, and something about it made Kristy feel warm. ‘Don’t jazz her up too much, though. I quite like Kristy the way she is.’

Mary Anne, Stacey and Claudia all visibly melted. Abby made a dramatic swooning pose, the back of one hand pressed against her forehead as if she were about to collapse.

‘I’ll catch up with you and let you know the details, Kristy,’ Cary said, before leaving her to deal with the heart-eyed mess he’d made out of her friends.

;-;

Between class, student council meetings, debate team, homework, and baby-sitting jobs, Kristy didn’t have much time to spare on worrying about Friday. If anything, Stacey and Claudia seemed to have taken over worrying duties for her; they grilled her endlessly on the contents of her wardrobe and made her promise to bring at least half of it to Mary Anne’s house, where everyone was planning to convene before Kristy left for the party and again afterwards for a good, old-fashioned Baby-Sitters Club sleepover.

‘Are you sure you don’t need any help with that?’ Kristy’s mom asked, eyeing the stuffed bags Kristy was hauling out of the car.

‘Nope, I’ve got it. Thanks, Mom! Remember, I’m staying over at Mary Anne’s after the party so I’ll see you tomorrow. And I promise not to break curfew, not that Mary Anne or Mr. Spier would ever let me.’

Her mom smiled. ‘Okay, honey. Have a great time. Call me when you need a ride home tomorrow.’

Kristy dragged her belongings over to the house, where Mary Anne was waiting at the front door.

‘Hi, Kristy,’ Mary Anne said, taking one of the bags. ‘Claudia and Stacey are here already. Try not to run when you see what they’ve brought over.’

‘I think I can guess,’ Kristy said grimly as she followed Mary Anne to her room.

The Pikes and Jackie Rodowskys of the world were nothing compared to two teenage girls in makeover mode. Mary Anne’s usually neat bedroom was a wreck. Her desk was covered in jewellery and miscellaneous accessories, including— for whatever reason— a literal rainbow of scarves. Clothes were draped over the bed and an armchair; Kristy recognised some of them as Mary Anne’s and spotted a fuchsia trench coat which had to belong to Claudia. Claudia herself was sprawled on the rug, sorting through a staggering amount of make up.

‘Come in, come in!’ Stacey said excitedly. She bundled up the clothing on the armchair and instructed Kristy and Mary Anne to dump their bags there. ‘Kristy, how are you feeling?’

‘Confused. Am I going to a party in Stoneybrook or in Hollywood?’

‘Ha. It might not be Hollywood-party important, but this is a big deal. There are going to be a lot of cool people at Sophie’s and even if you don’t care about that, remember that you need to blend in for the mission to go smoothly.’

‘The _mission_? Stace, this isn’t a spy movie. The journal is probably stashed under Sophie’s mattress. We’ll be in and out in half a minute.’

‘Don’t ruin this for us,’ Claudia said, examining a palette of what looked like eyeshadows, each colour more lurid than the last. ‘Do you know how long we’ve waited to have free rein over dressing you up?’

‘You don’t have free rein now,’ Kristy informed her. ‘I’m vetoing all those colours, especially the pinks.’

Claudia sighed. ‘I know. I was just experimenting in my mind.’

‘Don’t worry, we know what’ll look good on you,’ Stacey said brightly. ‘But let’s look at outfit options first.’

Kristy really was grateful for her friends and their time, and she was aware that dressing her up was like some kind of weird treat for Stacey and Claudia. But it was very much not fun to have to change into whatever clothing combination they concocted, offer an opinion that was more often than not ignored, then stand around while they debated whether it flattered her figure and accentuated her eyes. Who was even going to pay attention to any of that?

Mary Anne sat in the corner of the room, drinking tea and intervening when anyone’s voice started to rise.

‘Look,’ Kristy said, finally out of patience, ‘I just need something comfortable and low-key, okay? I’m going to be sneaking around someone’s house and the last thing I want is to do that wearing the high fashion equivalent of an orange safety vest.’

Mary Anne giggled as Claudia dropped the burnt orange cardigan she was holding.

With Kristy’s new parameters in place, Stacey and Claudia eventually approved a pair of black jeans and a thin, forest green sweater. They vetoed Kristy’s choice of sneakers and insisted on low-heeled ankle boots.

‘Sneakers? Don’t make me laugh,’ Stacey said, turning to the accessories on display on Mary Anne’s desk. ‘You’re tiny compared to Cary, Kristy. You need to add at least a little height.’

‘May I remind you all that I’m helping with a burglary, not going on an actual date? Why do I need to factor him into what I wear?’

‘Why can’t it be both?’

Kristy rolled her eyes. ‘With Cary?’

‘Well, Abby wasn’t wrong,’ Claudia said. ‘There is a lot of history and tension between you. It’s not that unbelievable.’

‘Yes, it is.’

‘No, it’s not,’ everyone else said.

Kristy looked at Mary Anne in surprise, who shrugged.

‘I think it’s possible that fighting with boys is your way of, um, showing affection.’

‘Flirting, Mary Anne. It’s her way of flirting,’ Stacey said. She draped a silver necklace around Kristy’s throat.

‘This is terrible,’ Kristy moaned. ‘I wish Abby were here so we could talk about sports instead.’

Stacey laughed. ‘Like she wouldn’t be making twice as many cracks at your expense as we are.’

To Kristy’s relief, the conversation turned to some of their baby-sitting charges as Stacey and Claudia got to work on her hair and make up. Kristy tried not to argue too much when Stacey started brushing something called a highlighter onto various parts of her face, focussing instead on Mary Anne’s story about Gabbie Perkins’ mission to get a pet ghost.

‘All done!’ Claudia said, letting go of the high ponytail she’d pulled Kristy’s hair into. ‘Check yourself out!’

The first thing Kristy noticed was that Stacey and Claudia had a much lighter touch than her last makeover artists, way back in eighth grade at Camp Mohawk. Kristy didn’t feel too much like an imposter— everything was just sort of... neatened up and given a little more emphasis. Highlighted, maybe.

‘Not bad, right?’ Stacey said, looking very pleased with herself.

‘You look wonderful, Kristy,’ Mary Anne agreed.

‘I still look like me,’ Kristy said happily.

Stacey smiled. ‘Of course. Make up should only enhance, not change you completely. We don’t want you to look unrecognisable.’

‘Besides, Cary likes you as you are,’ Claudia sang out.

Kristy grabbed a scarf and whipped it towards Claudia, who sent one of the rejected sneakers flying into Kristy’s knee. Stacey scrambled to stand between them.

‘No clothes fights!’ she snapped. ‘I’m serious! I don’t want a single smudge on Kristy’s face.’

‘We must protect the precious face,’ Claudia intoned, which made Kristy laugh so hard that she really did almost smudge her mascara.

Stacey made sure to get Claudia back for that.

;-;

‘Okay, so if things go south, I can be your getaway driver,’ Stacey said. She steered her car confidently along Burnt Hill Road, even though night had fallen and house numbers were getting harder to spot. ‘Just call me and wait somewhere safe until I get there.’

‘I’m starting to think you want to be in a spy movie, Stacey,’ Kristy said.

‘No, I’m just... Okay, the truth is, after dressing you up and sending you into a potentially bad situation, I feel like it’s at least partly my responsibility to make sure you get out safely.’

‘Thank you, but it’s a high school party, not a mafia meeting. Also, you’re not my real mom.’

Claudia and Mary Anne broke into laughter over their handfuls of Skittles.

‘But seriously, call if Cary’s a flake or you need back up,’ Stacey insisted. ‘We’ll be there.’

It was an offer made out of genuine concern, and Kristy softened. ‘I will. Thank you. But I really don’t think you need to worry.’

As it turned out, even the most short-sighted driver in the world could have figured out which house was Sophie Palmer’s. Cars snaked haphazardly in two lines in the long driveway of the property, which sat on a generous block of land. Music was already thumping behind the closed front door, but Kristy guessed it didn’t matter too much with how far the houses in the area were spaced apart. No wonder Sophie and her sister felt comfortable throwing back-to-back parties their parents probably hadn’t approved.

‘Oh, there’s Cary!’ Claudia pointed out a dark figure standing by the Palmers’ mailbox before Stacey had even pulled up to the side of the road. She must have had eyes like a hawk because Kristy stared for a good thirty seconds while she double-checked her pockets for her phone and card holder and she still couldn’t say with any certainty that it was him.

‘Have fun,’ Mary Anne said, smoothing out Kristy’s ponytail like a fussy parent. ‘Don’t let old prejudices get in your way tonight, okay?’

‘Goodbye!’ Stacey called out her window as they left for Pizza Express. It was suddenly a lot quieter as the music in the house dipped to an almost inaudible volume, and Kristy sighed, bracing herself for a pizza-less, but— with any luck— productive and not awful evening.

Claudia was right; it was Cary waiting by the mailbox. His head was tipped back to study the sky when Kristy reached him and she looked up, too, seeing a smattering of stars and a moon that was verging on full— waxing gibbous, if she remembered her lunar phases correctly.

‘Thanks for coming, Kristy,’ Cary said. His gaze came down from the sky and settled on her. ‘I know it probably doesn’t even come close to being in the top hundred ways you’d choose to spend your Friday night.’

‘I wouldn’t say it’s that bad. Maybe number ninety-seven.’

That made Cary smile. It was only after he relaxed, his shoulders becoming less stiff under his jacket and that familiar mischief smoothing out his expression, that she realised he’d been worried about whether she was unhappy to be there.

‘Are you ready to go in?’ Cary asked. ‘Sophie keeps everything upstairs off limits except an extra bathroom, so it should be easy to avoid people up there. We just need to hang out until we see the right moment to disappear.’

‘And what do you have planned for that?’

‘I wonder if I should be concerned that you know me so well.’

‘Well, it’s the smart thing to do. If you leave the “right moment” up to chance, it might never come.’

Kristy didn’t think she’d said anything particularly profound, but Cary seemed startled. He was silent for a moment, apparently lost in thought.

‘So are you going to tell me what the diversionary tactic will be?’ Kristy asked.

Cary shook his head, regaining his composure and bringing an air of mystery along with it.

‘You won’t miss it,’ he said. ‘Trust me.’

That, Kristy was surprised to find, wasn’t as hard as she thought it would be.

;-;

Sophie’s party wasn’t too different to the others Kristy had attended over the years, not that she’d been to many. The truth was, on the list of top one hundred ways she preferred to spend her Friday nights, going to a party pretending to be Cary Retlin’s date for the sole purpose of rummaging through someone’s room ranked higher than simply going to a party for fun. Cary’s brand of trouble was much more interesting than her classmates’ alcohol-fuelled decisions, which once included Trevor Sandbourne doing a striptease while reciting a poem about some guy with a foot fetish.

Another point in favour of Sophie’s party was that Cary was making an obvious effort to keep Kristy entertained. He went to talk to some of his friends when Dorianne Wallingford and then Sabrina Bouvier drew Kristy into conversation, clearly curious about what she was doing there with Cary Retlin of all people, but he spent most of his time in Kristy’s orbit, telling her outrageous stories about some of their classmates.

‘I can’t believe I didn’t know what a gossip you are,’ Kristy exclaimed after he finished a story about a member of the football team who’d used a range of home remedies to stave off hereditary balding. She set her empty cup down at the end of the seat in the bay window they were ensconced in and turned to give him an accusing look.

‘I’m not a gossip,’ Cary said. ‘I’m a collector of useful and interesting information and you should be thrilled that I’m sharing it with you. No one else has ever had that honour.’

‘Really? Gosh, I feel so special, getting to hear about some guy squeezing lemon juice all over his head for a week.’

Cary laughed, low and sincere. Kristy thought about what Mary Anne had said about old prejudices and not letting them get in her way. It had seemed like an unfinished piece of advice in the car, but in that moment, as she realised she was actually having fun with Cary and not just awkwardly getting along with him out of necessity, she thought she understood what Mary Anne had meant.

‘There’s Sophie,’ Cary said suddenly. He leaned closer to Kristy’s side, a line of warmth contrasting sharply with the cold glass against her back. ‘Does she remind you of anyone?’

Kristy kept an eye on Sophie as she went around the living room, chatting briefly with everyone she came across. She wore a sleek red dress that somehow didn’t clash with her hair and a truly terrifying pair of stilettos. There was also something oddly familiar about her mannerisms, especially the way she tossed her hair back as she talked to a cute guy Kristy didn’t recognise.

‘Why does she look exactly like Cokie when she’s on the prowl?’

‘Good catch.’ Cary sounded pleased. ‘She and Cokie were friends for a while last year and she picked up some of Cokie’s quirks.’

‘A Cokie copycat,’ Kristy said in disgust. ‘Now I’ve seen everything.’

It wasn’t long before it was their turn to be greeted by the hostess. Sophie towered over them in her heels and flashed a big smile.

‘Hi, Cary!’ she said. ‘Hi, Kristy. I didn’t expect you two to come together tonight. I thought this kind of party wouldn’t be your scene, Kristy.’

Cary’s voice was decidedly cool when he said, ‘I wasn’t aware you and Kristy knew each other so well.’

‘Oh, we don’t! But everyone knows _of_ Kristy, of course, with everything she’s involved in at school, and I’d heard she wasn’t very into parties.’

There was something faintly pointed about the way she said that, like what she really wanted to say was that Kristy was a bore who wasn’t into any type of fun at all. It was a very middle school, Cokie-inspired insult, except Sophie was much more subtle than Cokie.

‘I’m not,’ Kristy said, offering Sophie a bland smile. ‘But Cary made a pretty good argument for coming.’

‘Really.’ Sophie’s gaze was suddenly a lot sharper, but she continued on in the same airy, unassuming manner. ‘Cary does seem to enjoy your company very much. It’s a little funny, actually. How come I’ve never seen you two hanging out before tonight?’

‘I guess it’s like that thought experiment,’ Cary said dryly. ‘If Sophie Palmer doesn’t see us hanging out, Kristy, did we ever really hang out at all?’

Kristy bit her lip and tried not to laugh as Sophie’s smile became forced. She didn’t want to antagonise Sophie any more than necessary, considering they wanted to stay off the top of her suspect list when she inevitably discovered she’d been robbed.

‘Anyway, have a great night,’ Sophie said, recovering some of her perkiness. ‘If you can tear yourself away from each other, I’m going to be outside with plenty of people who’d love to see you, Cary.’

She stalked off. Kristy let out a breath and shook her head.

‘I can see the Cokie influences in her,’ she said, ‘but I get the feeling that Sophie isn’t as harmless.’

‘I’d agree with that. Sophie’s a tricky one, whereas anyone could outwit Cokie.’

Kristy couldn’t decide if that was an indirect dig at the Baby-Sitters Club. She glanced at Cary, who stared back at her looking like butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth, as Watson would say.

A burst of chatter by the entrance to the living room got everyone’s attention. In minutes, the word spread that something was happening outside and people began filing out, drinks in hand and clearly anticipating a show.

‘Diversionary tactic?’ Kristy asked.

‘I told you it’d be obvious.’

They followed the crowd out into the hall, but fell back into the shadow of the stairs while everyone else cut through the kitchen to a door into the backyard. Either people were getting bored or something amazing was happening, because it seemed like the entire house was emptying out. Kristy had half a mind to leave the thieving to Cary and go see what was going on.

But she wouldn’t because it would tarnish her reputation as a loyal and dependable person and anyway, Cary had grabbed her hand and was already pulling her up the stairs. Kristy tried not to be overly aware of the fact that he held onto her right up until they reached a closed door at the far end of the second-floor landing.

‘That’s the extra bathroom,’ Cary said quietly, indicating a room directly opposite. It was unoccupied. ‘We just have to be careful about anyone coming up to use it.’

There was a series of loud bangs and cheers coming from outside. Kristy figured no one would be coming by any time soon, but she was careful to lock Sophie’s door once they’d gone in. Then she and Cary got to work.

The room was more or less a typical teenager’s bedroom, although Sophie was tidy enough that they had to take extra care to leave everything as they found it. The journal was not, unfortunately, under the mattress.

‘Does anyone in this day and age actually use that as a hiding place?’ Cary mused aloud.

Kristy ran her hand over the underside of the bed, accidentally knocking over two of the pillows arranged against the headboard.

‘When you’re a seasoned detective like me,’ she whispered forcefully as she rearranged the pillows, ‘you’ll know not to overlook anything, including the obvious.’

Cary didn’t reply, but she heard him snickering.

The closet was a bust as well and Sophie’s drawers turned up nothing interesting except a dizzying collection of fancy lingerie. Kristy felt a little guilty about going through someone’s underwear, but as Cary said, they were just bits of fabric and no more meaningful than the rest of a person’s wardrobe.

‘You wouldn’t care if someone went through your underwear drawer?’ Kristy asked him.

‘Nope. You’re welcome to do so, if you like.’

Kristy made a face. ‘I would not.’

They were running out of places to look and she was starting to get nervous. How long had the distraction outside been planned for?

‘This is ridiculous.’ Kristy turned in a circle in the middle of the room, practically vibrating with frustration. ‘Did she carve out a secret compartment somewhere?’

‘I checked the obvious places for that.’

What were the obvious places? Kristy wondered and was then struck by a horrible thought. ‘What if it’s not even in here? What if it’s somewhere else in the house or she’s given it to a friend for safe-keeping?’

‘No.’ Cary was reassuringly firm. ‘She wouldn’t risk someone accidentally finding it during the party, especially knowing how out of control these things can get. She can at least try to keep her room off limits. And Sophie is very conscious about her image. She wants people to see her as fun and laid-back, not cruel and manipulative. It’s very unlikely that any of her friends know what she’s been up to.’

It seemed like solid reasoning and Cary did know Sophie better than Kristy did. She closed her eyes and let her mind clear for a moment. This shouldn’t be so hard; the BSC had once found literal buried treasure using nothing more than a couple of drawings on a photocopied letter. What was she missing? Unless...

Cary was watching her when she opened her eyes again and dashed over to the bed.

‘I think we overlooked the even more obvious,’ she said excitedly.

Sophie’s bed held five pillows. One was laid flat and obviously the one she slept on. The other four were square and smaller and seemed to be there purely to waste space. Kristy reached directly for the one leaning against the wall and half-hidden by another, and found something book-shaped tucked inside the pillowcase.

‘I’m not ashamed to say I would have been completely screwed without you,’ Cary said in awe.

Kristy didn’t see much more than a blank, black cover before Cary took the journal and slid it into the waistband of his jeans on his left side, where it could be covered by his shirt and jacket. The journal was slim enough that Kristy wouldn’t have known it was there if she hadn’t just watched him hide it.

‘Time to go,’ he said.

They gave the room one last sweep, checking for anything out of place, then slipped out. Kristy was ready to breathe a sigh of relief when she noticed an increase in noise— the distraction outside must have ended— and worse, footsteps coming up the stairs.

The bathroom door was closed, indicating someone was now using it.

Kristy gestured questioningly at Sophie’s bedroom, even though it was a huge risk with everyone heading back into the house. If there was a constant wait for the upstairs bathroom, who knew how long they might be stuck there. And what if Sophie decided she needed something from her room? Kristy was in total agreement when Cary shook his head, but that left them with no viable escape route or hiding place. The other doors leading off from the landing were closer to the stairs, where the footsteps were already getting louder.

Kristy made a split-second decision. It was, she could admit, not one of her best ideas. But the situation was getting desperate and it wasn’t like she had time to come up with five different options and poll for preference.

There was a shadowy corner between the window at the end of the landing and the door to the bathroom. Kristy shoved Cary into it and followed, pressing herself so close against him that even in the dim light, she could see his startled expression.

‘I can’t think of another good reason for both of us to be sneaking around up here at the same time,’ she whispered, feeling embarrassingly wide-eyed herself.

‘Okay,’ Cary said, just as quietly. ‘Then let’s make it believable.’

The footsteps reached the top of the stairs just as Cary curled his arm around her waist and tugged her up onto her tiptoes, bringing her face high enough for him to kiss her. He was tentative at first, a slow, careful exploration that seemed so unlike him, impossibly sweet as it was in its gentleness, but when Kristy made a soft noise of contentment, he upped the intensity as if determined to unbalance her all over again.

It was... really good. She wasn’t surprised that Cary was a good kisser— school gossip suggested he got plenty of practice— but she _was_ surprised by the way she felt, the shivery awareness of him and the places they were touching filtering down her body. It was a keen sense of being present, of being fully there in the moment. She had only ever experienced it once in the middle of a tight baseball game, when she had a bat in her hands and a crowd of expectations on her shoulders.

A stifled gasp interrupted them. Cary drew back slowly, pressing one last kiss to the corner of her mouth before letting her find her footing again. Kristy released the fistfuls of shirt she’d somehow ended up clutching and turned to see who’d seen them.

‘Wow.’ Kara Mauricio stared in amazement at them. ‘Kristy? You and Cary? Sorry, I didn’t mean to— um, I came up here for the bathroom?’

Kristy raised her eyebrows. ‘You’re not sure?’

‘What? No, I am!’

The bathroom door opened and a girl Kristy recognised as a writer for the school newspaper stepped out. She looked between Kristy and Cary, a little dishevelled and standing in the corner, and Kara, who was still acting like she’d seen the sky collapse in front of her, and walked away without a word.

‘It’s all yours, Kara,’ Cary said pleasantly. He slipped his hand into Kristy’s and squeezed lightly. ‘We’ll see you around.’

Kristy didn’t have to look to know Kara didn’t go into the bathroom until she and Cary were out of sight. Downstairs, the house was packed with people again, and Cary silently led her through the crowds and out the front door. There was no one outside and Kristy stepped away from Cary to pace along the edge of the lawn and steady herself.

Cary was waiting calmly by a tree in the yard when she returned.

‘Cary, I’m really sorry,’ she said.

He was clearly surprised. ‘What for?’

‘For forcing you into that situation! I panicked a little and made a decision without consulting you and I thought it was the only option we had right then, but would it really have been a big deal if someone found us up there? Maybe we were both just... waiting for the bathroom. And what could Sophie do if she did find out we’d taken the journal, anyway? She’s the one who stole it in the first place.’

‘Kristy. I kissed you, remember? I didn’t ask permission, either, and for all I knew, you were only going to pretend we were even doing anything.’

‘I don’t know what I was going to do,’ Kristy admitted.

‘That’s okay. Because if you’d made the first move, I would have still enjoyed it.’

Kristy’s big mouth failed her. She stared at Cary, at a complete loss for words.

‘Actually, I should be the one to apologise,’ Cary continued, watching her with an intensity that made that shivery sensation start up again. ‘I’ve wanted to kiss you for a very long time, and that was just me finally deciding not to wait for the right moment anymore.’

‘A long time? How long?’

‘Eighth grade,’ he said meditatively, ‘when Mr. Morley got into trouble over the books on his reading list and you stood up in front of all those people at the community meeting to defend him.’

That threw Kristy for a loop, but then, Cary had always been good at doing that. ‘But why?’ she asked.

‘Because you were clearly terrified, but you wanted to speak up for something you believed in, so you pushed yourself and found the courage to do it.’ Cary glanced away, suddenly seeming self-conscious and unsure. ‘You were incredible.’

Kristy had never really been the type to get all fluttery at anything boys said to her, but it was impossible not to feel a little fluttery at that. Or a lot fluttery.

‘You never said anything,’ she said, meaning all of it: his reaction to that meeting, his feelings for her, the fact that they’d lasted this long.

‘How could I? You could barely tolerate me in middle school and then when we got to SHS, we didn’t have much to do with each other. And in case you don’t know, Kristy, the idea of asking you out is pretty intimidating.’

Kristy laughed. ‘Since when have you ever been intimidated by me? You stole my watch right off my wrist once and didn’t care how mad I was.’

‘It’s a lot easier to steal your watch than tell you I want to go on a date with you.’

‘Then don’t say it. Just steal my watch again when you want a date and I’ll understand.’

Cary looked bewildered, which was almost— but not quite— the most thrilling thing that had happened that night. Kristy rolled up her left sleeve and held her arm out invitingly.

‘Does that mean you actually want to go out with me?’ he asked, not taking her up on the offer.

‘Yes, Cary. I do like you, you know. It’s not like I ever hated you, even in middle school. You just drove me nuts with your sarcasm and your habit of never taking me seriously enough, and it also drove me nuts that I couldn’t dismiss you as just another Alan Gray.’

He began smiling. ‘Poor Alan. He could never catch a break from you.’

‘“Poor Alan” nothing. No one told him he had to be so annoying and obnoxious.’

Cary moved closer, eyes bright and amused. ‘I think he only wanted to get your attention.’

‘Oh, he got that, along with my eternal disgust for him.’

Cary wasn’t touching her, but he was a little further into her personal space than she would normally accept from anyone she wasn’t close to. Before tonight, she would have been wary and on her guard for any mischief, but maybe no less hyper-aware of him. She hadn’t been lying to him; in eighth grade, when he was her archenemy, her foil, an irritating enigma, he had somehow still been impossible to ignore.

Maybe she had just never been able to admit to herself why that was.

‘So?’ she demanded. ‘Should I pencil you in for a date or not?’

‘Tomorrow? Lunch?’

Kristy imagined telling her friends later that she had a date with Cary Retlin for the next day. She wondered how they’d react. She hoped it wouldn’t be with plans for another makeover.

‘Okay,’ she said, and then to even the score, she kissed him.

He didn’t let go of her when they broke apart, his fingers playing idly with the end of her ponytail. It was distracting and kind of nice.

‘Should we go back in there?’ He nodded at the house, brightly lit up and getting noisier. ‘If we duck out too early, it might look a little suspicious.’

Kristy shrugged. ‘I guess. I hope Kara won’t come to gawk at us again.’

‘We can hide from her,’ Cary said. He began backing away, and it was about then that she noticed a hint of that infuriating smirk creeping onto his face. ‘Hey, Kristy? I’ll keep your watch as a security deposit for our date, okay?’

Kristy looked at her wrist, even though she already knew what she would see.

‘Oh, for— Cary! Get back here!’

He grinned and disappeared inside. She chased after him, furiously planning what she’d do when she caught him.


End file.
